WILL UNWOUND #319: “Will’s Mystery Project – ‘Seeing is Believing’ by E.X. Ferrars”
January 1, 2011Before I started this mystery project, I was advised over and over again to stay away from the so-called “cozy” mystery.
Why? I’m not quite sure. I think it’s because I once disparagingly referred to the mystery genre as a literary game of Clue.
Well…if you’re looking for a good working definition of a “cozy,” a literary game of Clue might be a good one. What are the elements of a cozy? You have a colorful cast of suspects (Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum, Miss Scarlet, etc.), a diverse array of murder weapons (lead pipe, gun, and, for a more civilized killing, a candlestick), and finally a distinguished old mansion where you have 9 choices to do in your target – for a literary death, try the library, for a culinary death try the kitchen, and for something more elegant there is always the conservatory.
This week I went to my local library specifically in search of a cozy mystery and came up with a winner from beginning to end: Seeing is Believing by E.X. Ferrars, the so- called “Mistress of the Cozy.” That was step one. So far so good.
Now it’s time for step two…providing the correct reading environment.
- Pick a day where it is veddy British outside – cold, wet, and windy.
- Brew a nice pot of Earl Grey.
- Pastries would be a nice complement to the tea.
- Hunker down into a soft and oversized reading chair.
- Wrap yourself in a cuddly throw, preferably one decorated with books and cats.
- Take the phone off the hook.
- Close the door.
- Don’t emerge until the murder has been solved and life returns to normal.
Fortunately, the California weather, damp, windy, and chilly, has been perfect cozy weather. And it’s doubly fortunate that I was in the perfect mood for the cozy experience. What with the comings and goings of the holiday, a retreat to the inner sanctum sanctorum of my little home library was just what I needed. These were three of the best hours of my holiday. What I discovered is that the cozy mystery is not just a book; it is a reading experience.
Seeing is Believing had special appeal for me because it revolves around two retirees who have settled down into a new home in a new community (just like me!). Frances and Malcolm Chance, the retired headmaster of a minor public school, now live quietly in the village of Raneswood in England. However, their small town tranquility is rudely shattered when their next door neighbor, Peter Loxley, is shot to death in his own home while his wife Avril is in London.
At first suspicion falls automatically on the local handyman, Fred Dyer, who was not only seen entering the Loxley house, but who has been loosely linked to 3 murders in a neighboring town. Dyer has an alibi, however, and so the blame shifts to several other villagers. What makes everything cozy indeed is that all the principals in this quaint little mystery are members of the local amateur theatrical troupe and they are set to begin rehearsals of Romeo and Juliet.
Aha, my armchair sleuth friends, do you think that the play’s the thing that will lead to the murderer? Did I say that? Sorry, I was just speculating. No hints from me…none!
For my 3 hours of reading pleasure, I give Seeing Is Believing a 3 star rating.
PS…Unwinders, I am in a cozy state of mind. Do any of you have any really good cozy recommendations for this mystified mystery lover in damp and chilly Northern California?
Cleopatra; a life, by Stacy Schiff. A meaty read that will teach you stuff about the Romann Empire -er- Republic you never knew. Christmas present for me. Loving it.
Is it a bio or a novel?
It’s a bio, so you don’t know which parts are maxde up!
The Peter Shandy series set in Balaclava Agricultural College (and that should tell you everything you need to know) by Charlotte MacLeod are small jewels of the cozy environment. Jane Langton’s Homer Kelly mysteries are excellent and made even better by her sense of place. If you’s excuse the bad pun, “God in Concord” is transcendent in the genre. You can’t get much chillier or damper than those series’ settings.
Happy New Year to all
Bill, I’m making my list. These sound great. thanks.
Shaking my head in appreciation of “God in Concord.” The only thing better than a bad pun is a worse pun.
My favorite cat cozy series takes place in Northern California, the Joe Grey series by Shirley Rosseau Murphy, which starts with Cat On the Edge, when Joe witnesses a murder while waiting for handouts behind the deli and it shocks him into speaking English.
The other cozy series I like and suggest often is the Hamish Macbeth mysteries by MC Beaton, start with pretty much anyone, all set in a small town in the Highlands – its a village series so the characters who live there become as much a part of the mystery as Hamish who is the local policeman. Humorous, esp when Hamish is coming up with new schemes for not getting promoted (his greatest fear)
Nancy Pearl suggested Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie on twitter and facebook earlier this week and it is a good one. With a fiendishly clever 11 year old protagonist, Flavia, set in a crumbling family mansion in 1950s England.
A non cozy but very good mystery that made my best of 2010 list is Poachers Son by Paul Doiron. Its about a rookie game warden who is assigned a beat in a small town on Midcoast Maine (which is where I grew and all my family still lives) and his father is accused of a murder. Mixes in state politics about paper companies and a nice strong sense of place. The next one in the series comes out in April 2011 and I can say it is possibly even better.
Jessica…thanks for a wonderful array of titles. You have made them all seem very enticing. Thanks.
The cozy that pretty much defines the genre is Agatha Christie’s “The Body in the Library.” Consider it a must-read. I second the recommendation of M. C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series. If you can get hold of either Barbara Byfield’s “Solemn High Murder” or Barbara Paul’s “Liars and Tyrants and People Who Turn Blue” you will be in for a treat.
Many thanks, Wayne.
I’ll cast another vote for BODY IN THE LIBRARY and yet another shout out for THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD—the cosiest chapter “An Evening at Mah Jong” alone worth the price of admission!
I will just bring your attention to this from MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD as hyped(by me) above:
“It is the private opinion of both Caroline and myself that Colonel Carter has never been in the Shanghai Club in his life. More, that he has never been farther east then India, where he juggled with tins of bully beef and plum and apple jam during the Great War. But the colonel is determinedly military, and in King’s Abbot we permit people to indulge their little idiosyncrasies freely.”
Much like on Will’s blog—-”we permit people to indulge their little idiosyncrasies freely”. A good feeling, that. Yes?
Aunt Dimity series! A ghost who communicates with the detective via a journal, a pink rabbit, and an inherited mansion in England…and of course, a romance! Go for it Will, give it a try! Those three hours sound like heaven right now! Wish I was in a similar place….
JR…thanks for the Aunt D. tip. As far as the reading experience goes…it’s all about creating the space, time, and virtual cats. Books can really make the real world go poof for a few hours. Sounds like you need some of that now. Spoil yourself, JR, just for 3 hours.
Margaret Maron’s Deborah Knott series. They’re best read in order for the ongoing family stories, but the mysteries are each discrete. No matter what order you choose, start with the first one to get the feel for Deborah, her ex-bootlegger father, some of her eleven brothers, and the general area where she lives in North Carolina. The Bootlegger’s Daughter is the first one.
Some of the others recommended I second – I’m still reading some in the Peter Shandy series by Charlotte McLeod. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a definite winner. I think there’s now a second book there as well.
If you like baseball, there’s a series written by Troy Soos that I recommend. There are six in the Mickey Rawlings series. The first one is Murder at Fenway Park. Mickey is a free agent, general talent, good team player type baseball player who was on the Red Sox team the year Fenway Park opened. For the other books he ends up in Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, and St. Louis.
Thanks, Vicki. I do love baseball!
Thanks for introducing me to another mystery author. I’ll check out E. X. Ferrars. My favorite cozies are Miss Marple; I have read Aunt Dimity and enjoyed that too.
It’s a gray New Year’s Day here in Chicagoland. I’ve got a comfortable chair, a warm afghan, and a couple of cats. Now to brew up some tea and grab a book. No football for me until the Bears play tomorrow.
‘da Bears!
Dorothy Cannell’s books, beginning with The Thin Woman. They’re a bit antic, but fun. If you can find it, Death of my Aunt by C. H. Kitchin–(I think those are the initials) is a very good read, quiet and understated.
Beth…I love antic!
M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin series
Rys Bowen’s Constable Evan Evan series
Thanks, Roberta.
Will, I could recommend a number of cozy authors, including several of the ones listed above, but here are three outstanding ones that haven’t been mentioned yet:
1. Susan Wittig Albert, author of the CHina Bayles series. China is a lawyer who has left the profession and Houston to open an herb shop in Pecan Springs, TX. All the books in the series are the names of herbs.
2. Jeff Abbott’s first series for Ballantine Books, featuring small-town library director Jordan Poteet, who came home to east Texas to care for his mother and took the closest job he could find related to his old job in publishing back in Boston. The first book in this series is Do Unto Others.
3. The third, Corinne Holt Sawyer, is one you may have to check used bookstores for, since I think the books may have been paperback originals which were published from 1988 to 1997. Her sleuths are two elderly women who live in an assisted living home, and in the first book, The J. Alfred Prufrock Murders, a librarian is murdered for reasons having to do with misuse of her professional skills. I enjoyed that series very much because it is difficult to find fiction depicting senior citizens so positively, and I was sorry it stopped at eight books.
Here’s a web page about cozy mysteries you might want to check out:
http://www.cozy-mystery.com/
Welcome to the cozy club, Will!
I second “Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie”. But sometimes the fun is coming upon a wonderful find all on your own.
Has anyone mentioned Jo Dereske’s mystery series featuring librarian Helma Zukas to you? I find them most amusing & swear that the author has been in my library.
No mention yet of my favorite cozy author: Patricia Wentworth. Not much in the way of humor for those who like their cozies cute. However her Miss Silver stories have all I need for a comfortable and happy reading experience: England, the 1930′s and 40′s, and a brilliant detective and former governess. There is always a romance thrown in: Miss Silver (an old maid) likes to rescue the young people and see true love come out on top. Wentworth’s other mysteries can be good also, but I love her Miss Silver ones. Alas, I’ve just about exhausted all of them, but keep hoping to find just one more. They are not all easy to find and you may need to resort to ILL since they are probably all out of print. Wait…I’m going to check that out *searches the internet* there are many available on Amazon, but mostly used. Also on Google Books. Worth trying if the old lady aspect doesn’t turn you off. (I’m getting closer everyday!)
P.S. Sorry I’m late to the party. *plead headache because of New Year’s eve revels* If only that were true!
Michelle Scott has written some cozies set in the Northern California wine country.
One of my favorites is Jeff Cohen. He has three different series, one with an autistic son, one set in a movie theater and one with a house full of ghosts. All tend toward the humorous but are well done, tight mysteries.
And, if you are going to get started on series you have to know about Stop, You’re Killing Me! the website for series mysteries. http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/
Took your recommendation and read “Seeing is Believing”. Great mystery and I’ll be reading more of her stuff. Thanks for mentioning her, I hadn’t heard of her at all.